A case of chest wall recurrence of breast cancer treated with paclitaxel weekly, 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine, arterial embolization and chest wall resection.

ABSTRACT

Chest wall resection and reconstruction has proved to be a safe surgical procedure for local recurrence of breast cancer. Recently, as second- or third-line chemotherapy for the patients with recurrent breast cancer or ovarian cancer, weekly paclitaxel has provided a significant response rate in those patients, and generated much clinical interest. We report here a case of chest wall recurrence of breast cancer successfully treated by a combination of weekly paclitaxel, 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine, arterial embolization, and chest wall resection. A 56-year-old woman presented with a large mass in the left anterior chest. A recurrent tumor developed and enlarged one-and-half years after undergoing modified radical mastectomy for advanced breast cancer (T4N2M0, stage III B) at another hospital. The mass had enlarged while the patient underwent chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, and anastozole, followed by low-dose cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and goserelin. To reduce the mass and inflammatory changes of the skin, weekly paclitaxel and 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine was given. Furthermore, to obtain hemostasis and promote the mass reduction, arterial embolization of the supply arteries was performed. Chest wall resection, reconstruction of the bony chest wall with polypropylene mesh folded 8 times, and soft tissue reconstruction with a contralateral myocutaneous flap were carried out successfully. The patient was discharged from the hospital ten weeks after the operation without any major morbidity, and remained well for ten months. A multimodal approach with chemotherapy and arterial embolization was effective in this case in treating chest wall recurrence of breast cancer. Reconstruction of the chest wall bone with polypropylene mesh folded 8 times and soft tissue reconstruction with a contralateral myocutaneous flap was a useful procedure after chest wall resection, even after chemotherapy and arterial embolization.